Jeff Lynne
Jeff Lynne (born
December 30,
1947, in the
Shard End area of
Birmingham,
England) is an
English singer-songwriter and
record producer. He was the co-founder (with
Roy Wood and
Bev Bevan), guitarist, and lead singer of
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as a co-founder of the
Traveling Wilburys (with
Bob Dylan,
George Harrison,
Tom Petty, and
Roy Orbison) in the late 1980s. Prior to The Electric Light Orchestra, Lynne was a member of
Idle Race a name which was allegedly given to them unwittingly and sarcastically by their grandmother Evelyn Lynne who probably dissapproved of the pop music culture as not being a proper job. He also belonged, along with Wood and Bevan, to
The Move.
After ELO's breakup in the mid 1980s, Lynne moved into production work, showing both the influence of
The Beatles that characterized much of ELO's work and an influence from rockabilly-style music. The Beatles' connection was strengthened when Lynne produced
George Harrison's
Cloud Nine, a successful comeback album for the ex-Beatle released in 1987 featuring the popular single "
Got My Mind Set on You." In 1989, Lynne co-produced the acclaimed album
Full Moon Fever by
Tom Petty, which included the hit singles "
Free Fallin'," "I Won't Back Down," and "Runnin' Down a Dream," all co-written by Lynne. This album and
Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, also co-produced by Lynne, both received nominations for the
Grammy for Best Album of the Year in 1989.
In 1990, Lynne released his first solo album
Armchair Theatre, featuring the singles "Every Little Thing" and "Lift Me Up." The album received some positive critical attention but little commercial success.
In February of 1994, Lynne fulfilled a lifelong dream by working with the three surviving
Beatles on
Anthology album series, and reunion tracks "
Free as a Bird" and "
Real Love" (overdubbing
John Lennon's demos for the songs). He has also produced records individually for
George Harrison,
Paul McCartney and
Ringo Starr, and worked extensively on the
Roy Orbison album
Mystery Girl.
In 2001, Lynne released a new ELO album,
Zoom, whichfeatured none of the original members of the Electric Light Orchestra, but attempted to "return to the classic ELO sound" [
1]. The album received positive reviews but had no hit singles. While a concert of the album was filmed and shown on the US TV network
PBS, a planned concert tour was cancelled, although the concert was released on DVD. Also that year, Lynne appeared on a
VH1 Storytellers show filmed in New York, and EMI and Sony released remastered editions of part of ELO's catalog.
Lynne went back to the recording studio as a producer in 2002, co-producing and helping complete
George Harrison's posthumously released album,
Brainwashed. He was also heavily involved in the memorial
Concert for George, held at London's Royal Albert Hall in November 2002, and subsequently produced the
Surround Sound audio mix for the
Concert For George DVD released in November 2003. The DVD received a
Grammy for
Best Long Form Music Video.
Also in 2002, a tribute to Lynne called
Lynne Me Your Ears was released [
2], featuring two CDs full of artists performing Lynne/ELO songs, including
Todd Rundgren, SWAG (featuring members of
Wilco,
The Mavericks and
Cheap Trick),
Sixpence None The Richer,
Doug Powell,
PFR,
Jason Falkner,
Fleming and John,
Jerry Chamberlain of
Daniel Amos,
Rick Altizer and others.
Lynne reunited with Tom Petty in
2006 as producer of Petty's third solo album,
Highway Companion.
A passionate football fan, he supports
Birmingham City F.C.*
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